Peyton Manning Is Going to Carpool to Today's Playoff Game With Two of His Teammates

When he's at the line of scrimmage, Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning likes to make a lot of changes. So before he snaps the ball, you'll see him making all sorts of adjustments based on the defense that the other team is playing. But when it comes to his pre-game routine on Sunday mornings, Manning refuses to make any changes—even if he's getting ready to play in one of the biggest games of his life.

With that in mind, Manning is going to do what he always does prior to the Patriots/Broncos AFC Championship Game this afternoon. He's going to get ready in his hotel room, walk down to his car, and then drive over to Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium. And he's going to do it with two of his closest teammates in the car with him. Those two teammates are tight end Jacob Tamme and wide receiver Eric Decker. And according to Manning, their pre-game carpool has turned into a ritual over the course of the last two seasons.

"Me and [Eric] Decker and [Jacob] Tamme carpool together—drive from the hotel to the stadium," Manning admitted in the days leading up to today's game. "We've done that for the past two years."

Manning drives, Tamme sits shotgun, Decker stretches out in the backseat, and all three of them mentally prepare for the game they're about to play.

"I think everybody kind of settles into some kind of routine," Manning said. "That's kind of part of our routine."

Let's just hope they don't hit any traffic on the way to the game today. Wouldn't it be unfortunate if all three of them showed up late because of their carpool?